Chapter Forty-Two Juliette
FORTY-TWO JULIETTE
Juliette has never been a morning person, but she doesn’t mind waking up next to Luca. Even so, her alarm blares too loud, and she smacks the bedside table to snooze it, sending it spiraling off the edge. She flops back, too sleep-addled to rescue it.
Instead, she turns onto her side and reaches for Luca. Her fingers graze sleep-warmed skin, and she wraps herself around any bit of Luca she can find.
Luca stirs, mumbling something unintelligible. Juliette buries her face into the space between Luca’s shoulder blades and slots their legs together.
Nine minutes later, as Juliette drifts pleasantly in the soft dozing stage of waking up, her phone blares again. She sighs and considers letting it scream on the floor until it eventually stops.
Luca smacks her hip, twisting in her arms. “Turn that off,” she whines.
Juliette huffs. “Fine, fine,” she mutters, nearly rolling off the bed to grab her phone and cancel the alarm. She considers going back to sleep, but she needs another flight to New York. Her father is surely going to want to maim her, but that is far away and unimportant at the moment.
What is important to Juliette is draping herself over Luca and peppering her face with kisses. She tries not to laugh as Luca’s nose scrunches in an adorably affronted way.
“It’s weird to watch someone sleep,” Luca grumbles.
“What were you dreaming about?” Juliette asks, resting her chin on Luca’s shoulder.
Luca sighs. “You.”
“Aw.”
“Letting me sleep in peace,” Luca adds, and Juliette gasps.
“How dare you,” she says, rolling off Luca and crossing her arms over her chest.
“No, I was joking, come back here, you’re warm.” Luca follows her and throws herself over Juliette.
Juliette considers playing hard to get but a loud banging on the door jolts them both out of their playful sleepiness.
“Who is that?” Luca asks, her eyes going wide.
“JULIETTE RICCI. OPEN UP, I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE.”
Juliette’s heart stops, and she claws her fingers into the sheets.
Livia.
“THIS IS IMPORTANT.” The banging intensifies.
Juliette swings out of the bed, still shocked by Livia pounding on the door at the crack of dawn. She throws the door open and Livia bursts in, slamming the door shut behind her. She’s absolutely manic, panting and flushed as if she’s run a mile in three minutes.
“Livia, what’s going on?” Juliette asks. “And how did you figure out which room was Luca’s?” She glances back toward the bedroom.
“Doesn’t matter,” Livia says, grabbing her wrists. “Why aren’t you in New York?” she demands, her eyes wild and huge.
“Luca, obviously.” Livia squeezes, hard, and she winces. “Ouch, Livie.”
“Fucking fuck , Jules.” She shakes her head.
“Livie, calm down. Tell me what’s wrong?”
Livia shakes her wrists. “There was a random pop-up drug test for you this morning,” she gasps out.
“What?” Juliette isn’t sure she heard her right. “There was a what?”
“There was a drug test for you this morning, Jules. Except I had put down that you were going to be in New York because I thought you were, but then Dad calls me and he’s panicking, and he couldn’t get a hold of you and now you’ve missed it.
” Livia lets go of her and laces her fingers behind her head. “This is so bad, so bad.”
“Jules?”
Juliette spins around. Luca stares at them with open confusion, her head tilted, a crease formed between her brows. “One second.” She turns back to Livia, who has begun pacing.
“Livie, it’ll be okay. We get three misses, right?” She takes Livia by the shoulders and gently guides her into the living room. She slumps onto the couch, her head falling into her hands.
“Yes, I know, but it isn’t a good look.”
Juliette glances up at Luca, lingering in the doorway. “Can you make her a cup of tea?” Luca nods, vanishing around the corner to the kitchenette.
Juliette sits next to Livia and rubs her back. “Livie, why are you so stressed about this? I’ll deal with him.” Her stomach clenches at the thought, but she has to soothe Livia. She’s on the verge of hysterics.
“Because it’s my fault!” Her lower lip trembles. “If I weren’t such a petty bitch, I would have checked in with you once I thought you landed in New York and then you would have told me you were staying here, and then I could have changed your location.”
“Livia, this isn’t your fault. This was very last-minute, and it isn’t up to you to make sure everything is perfect,” Juliette says. “Even if I had told you I was staying here, would you have remembered to change the location anyway? For a random drug test?”
Livia swallows. “Probably not.”
“Exactly. This is why they give you three missed chances before it becomes an actual issue.” Juliette knows it isn’t that simple, but she wants to keep Livia from spiraling further.
Luca returns with a cup of tea. “I didn’t know if you liked honey, but it is soothing,” Luca says as Livia takes the cup, cradling it between her palms.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
Luca lingers, awkwardly caught in the middle of the living room.
“Can you give us a moment?” Juliette asks, and Luca sighs in relief, nodding as she leaves again.
Not that it really matters, since Luca can’t speak Italian.
“Look, Livie, I know this situation isn’t great, but there isn’t anything either of us can do about it now. All we can do now is move forward.”
Livia swallows. “Dad is pissed. He’s flying here now to chew you out.”
Juliette sighs. “That seems like a waste. I’ll be in New York later tonight.”
“He’s convinced you need to be reeled in. He thinks you don’t care about tennis anymore,” Livia says, sipping her tea.
Juliette rolls her eyes. “Just because I have someone in my life that I care about doesn’t mean I’ve suddenly stopped caring about tennis. It’s my job and it’s a lot of my life, but there are other things I love.”
“Love?” Livia’s eyes narrow, and Juliette smiles sheepishly. Livia’s eyes flick to the empty hallway where Luca vanished, and one brow raises in question.
“Yes, Livie. Love.” Saying it out loud, telling her sister makes it feel as though feathers are brushing her insides. It’s oddly pleasant, but also a little uncomfortable. “And… I need to apologize for the party.”
Livia’s face softens, but she looks away.
“I understand that you’re an adult, and I stepped out of line reacting like that.
” Juliette thinks about how their father is already flying back to Cincinnati, as if Juliette is an unruly child and not a fully formed adult.
“I should have understood it sooner. All of us should have, considering who our father is.”
Livia snorts. “Damn right.”
“And I’m sorry for not seeing you as an adult and for not supporting you. I’ve taken you for granted, and for that I’m sorry. I’ve missed you.” Juliette touches her hand, and Livia awards her with a faint smile.
“You just miss my impeccable planning skills,” she teases.
Juliette laughs. “I missed my little sister. You’re the backbone of this family, and I love you.”
“Love you too,” Livia whispers, tilting sideways to bump their shoulders together. “I know I wasn’t acting the best, but for the first time, I had someone who was only mine. It was fun sneaking around with him and keeping it a secret. I felt like my own person.” Her head drops onto her shoulder.
“Well, none of us are going to push you about it. But if you ever need someone to talk to, we’ve got you too, Livie.” Juliette squeezes her hand.
“I know. Thank you.” Livia is quiet for a while as she gulps down her tea. “The funny thing is, I was going to tell you all that night.”
“Oh.”
“He’ll be at the US Open, so we’ll try again there,” Livia says.
Juliette sighs dramatically. “I guess I can wait until then.”
Livia chuckles, lifting her head. “Are you gonna talk to me about Luca?”
“Are you going to tell me how you knew which room was hers?” Juliette counters, and Livia hesitates.
“Erm, I would, but it was rather illegal.”
“Livia!”
She, at least, has the grace to look chagrined. “Look, I needed to find you and you weren’t in your room. So, I might have hacked the hotel guest list to figure out which room they gave to Luca.”
“Livia!” Juliette drops her head into her hands. Of course her little sister hacked the hotel system. At this point, she probably should have guessed. Or maybe learned to stop asking.
Livia shrugs. “It was important.”
Juliette can only groan.